Nitrogen Challenges and Opportunities for Agricultural and Environmental Science in India

In the last six decades, the consumption of reactive nitrogen (Nr) in the form of fertilizer in India has been growing rapidly, whilst the nitrogen use efficiency (NUE) of cropping systems has been decreasing. These trends have led to increasing environmental losses of Nr, threatening the quality of air, soils, and fresh waters, and thereby endangering climate-stability, ecosystems, and human-health. Since it has been suggested that the fertilizer consumption of India may double by 2050, there is an urgent need for scientific research to support better nitrogen management in Indian agriculture. In order to share knowledge and to develop a joint vision, experts from the UK and India came together for a conference and workshop on “Challenges and Opportunities for Agricultural Nitrogen Science in India.” The meeting concluded with three core messages: (1) Soil stewardship is essential and legumes need to be planted in rotation with cereals to increase nitrogen fixation in areas of limited Nr availability. Synthetic symbioses and plastidic nitrogen fixation are possibly disruptive technologies, but their potential and implications must be considered. (2) Genetic diversity of crops and new technologies need to be shared and exploited to reduce N losses and support productive, sustainable agriculture livelihoods. Móring et al. Nitrogen Challenges and Opportunities (3) The use of leaf color sensing shows great potential to reduce nitrogen fertilizer use (by 10–15%). This, together with the usage of urease inhibitors in neem-coated urea, and better management of manure, urine, and crop residues, could result in a 20–25% improvement in NUE of India by 2030

Assessment of different methods of rice (Oryza sativa. L) cultivation affecting growth parameters, soil chemical, biological, and microbiological properties, water saving, and grain yield in rice–rice system

Field experiments were conducted at DRR farm located at ICRISAT, Patancheru, in sandy clay loam soils during four seasons, Kharif 2008, Rabi 2008–2009, Kharif 2009 and Rabi 2009–2010, to investigate growth parameters, water-saving potential, root characteristics, chemical, biological, and microbial properties of rhizosphere soil, and grain yield of rice (Oryza sativa L.) by comparing the plants grown with system of rice intensification (SRI) methods, with organic or organic + inorganic fertilization, against current recommended best management practices (BMP). All the growth parameters including plant height, effective tillers (10–45 %), panicle length, dry matter, root dry weight (24–57 %), and root volume (10–66 %) were found to be significantly higher with in SRI-organic + inorganic over BMP. With SRI-organic fertilization, growth parameters showed inconsistent results; however, root dry weight (3–77 %) and root volume (31–162 %) were found significantly superior compared to BMP. Grain yield was found significantly higher in SRI-organic + inorganic (12–23 and 4–35 % in the Kharif and Rabi seasons, respectively), while with SRI-organic management, yield was found higher (4–34 %) only in the Rabi seasons compared to BMP. An average of 31 and 37 % of irrigation water were saved during Kharif and Rabi seasons, respectively, with both SRI methods of rice cultivation compared to BMP. Further, total nitrogen, organic carbon%, soil dehydrogenase, microbial biomass carbon, total bacteria, fungi, and actinomycetes were found higher in the two SRI plots in comparison to BMP. It is concluded that SRI practices create favorable conditions for beneficial soil microbes to prosper, save irrigation water, and increase grain yield

Farm level and aggregate economic impact of direct seeded rice in Punjab

The essence of agricultural development is to improve both individual farm household welfare and in the aggregate, achieve desirable economic and social impacts. Despite the availability of literature on the farm level impact of DSR, few studies have attempted to measure the aggregate effects of adoption of DSR at the state level. A survey was conducted during 2015, comprising 150 randomly selected farmers covering three major direct seeded rice districts viz., Sri Muktsar Sahib, Bathinda and Kapurthala of Punjab state of India to understand the farm level and aggregate economic impact of DSR in Punjab. The results showed that the adoption of DSR has reduced the cost of cultivation by about 29% on an average. At the aggregate level, potential benefits from the adoption of DSR are substantial. The survey results reveal that adoption of DSR has resulted in lowering cost of cultivation of rice by Rs. 14,615/-per hectare over the transplanting method. The aggregate monetary benefits in terms of savings in cost of cultivation by adoption of DSR to the adopter farmers in Punjab is estimated to the tune of Rs. 730,750,000 for the year 2015. The findings confirm the positive impacts of DSR and the results support promoting DSR as a strategy to enhance profitability of farmers and also as a water saving technology in the face of depleting water resources for agriculture in general and rice in particular

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Not AvailableRice (Oryza sativa) is the staple food of Southeast Asian population. Rice is the source of livelihood for hundreds of millions of house holds around the Globe. Several Asian and African countries are highly dependent on rice as a source of food and foreign exchange and government revenue (www.fao.org). Global rice production must increase by 36% by 2025 to feed an estimated 4 billion rice consumers (Pinstrup Anderson et al., 1997). Water scarcity prevails in rice growing areas (Tuong et al., 2005) and societal demands for water from the urban and commercial sectors will continue to increase. In response to rising production costs; especially for labor and water resources, farmers are shifting the methods of crop establishment from traditional transplanting to direct seeding. But direct seeding of rice faces severe challenges from weeds which are a major deterrent in increasing the rice production and productivity. Integrating preventive and interventional methods are essential to manage the weed communities. (Raoet. al., 2007) and improved weed management will be quite crucial. Over 1800 plant species have been reported as weeds of rice in South and South east Asia (Moody 1989) and there is an enormous diversity of taxa considered to be weeds of rice (Soerjani et. al., 1987) Since rice is grown over a wide range of agro ecosystems, such as flooded fully or partially (irrigated) uplands which are highly prove for weed Infestation. In many developing countries, rice farming relies on manual labour and weed control is inefficient leading to their persistence. Weeds compete with the rice plants for nutrients, moisture, sunlight and space, causing a quantitative reduction in the potential yield of rice.Not Availabl

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Not AvailableShortage of water in rice cultivation is major problem in India. To safeguard and sustain food security in India, it is quite important to increase the productivity of rice under limited water resources. To investigate the performance of rice cultivars under the best method of irrigation and system of cultivation in new condition an experiment was conducted to study the "productivity and water use efficiency of rice (Oryza sativa L.) cultivars under different irrigation regimes and systems of cultivation" on clay loam soils of Indian Institute of Rice Research (IIRR), Rajendranagar, Hyderabad, Telangana during the kharif seasons of 2017 and 2018. The treatment comprised of two irrigation regimes viz., AWD and saturation as main plot treatments, three establishment methods viz., system of rice intensification, drum seeding and TP as subplot treatments and four cultivars namely DRR Dhan 42, DRR Dhan 43, MTU-1010 and NLR-34449 as sub-sub plot treatments summing up to 24 treatment combinations laid out in split-split plot design with three replications. Among the irrigation regimes, AWD irrigation practice recorded higher grain yield (5755, 5952 and 5854 kg ha-1 in 2017, 2018 and pooled means, respectively) than saturation. Among the different systems of cultivation, the SRI recorded significantly higher grain yield (5953, 6129 and 6041 kg ha-1 during 2017, 2018 and in pooled means, respectively) over the TP method. Among the different rice cultivars, DRR Dhan 43 registered remarkably higher grain yield than other cultivars during 2017 and 2018.Not Availabl

Effect of Establishment Methods and Nutrient Management Practices on Growth Characters and Yield of Rice (Oryza sativa L.)

Aim: Study was conducted to compare and to identify the best combination of rice crop establishment method and nutrient management in terms of crop growth, development and yield. Study Design: Experiment was laid out in splitplot design. Place and Duration of Study: The field experiments were conducted at the research farm of Indian Institute of Rice Research, Hyderabad, Telangana State, India during the kharifand rabiseasons of 2011-12 and 2012-13. Methodology: The treatments consisted of four establishment methods (System of rice intensification (SRI), modified drum seeder, normal drum seeder and normal transplanting) as main plot treatments and four nutrient management practices (100% recommended dosage of nitrogen (RDN) through inorganic, 75% RDN through inorganic+ 25% RDN through organic, 50% RDN through inorganic+50% RDN through organic and 100% RDN through organic) as sub plot treatments with 16 treatment combinations and three replications. The semi dwarf, high yielding Sampada variety was raised during the study period. Results: Growth parameters like plant height, leaf area index (LAI), dry matter accumulation, number of tillers per square meter were observed at 45,75,105 days after transplanting and at harvest stages. The two years experimental results and the pooled mean data revealed that SRI recorded significantly superior growth parameters at all the crop growth stages followed by modified drum seeder. In respect of subplots 50% RDN through inorganic+50% RDN through organic resulted in superior growth parameters and yield. Conclusions:The combination of SRI with nutrient management practice 50% nitrogen through urea and 50% nitrogen through vermiconpost resulted in greater growth parameters and grain yield

Different Management of Nitrogen Application Affected Growth Characteristic of Maize (Zea mays L)

A field study was conducted during Kharif 2019-20 at Professor Jayashankar Telangana State Agricultural University (PJTSAU), Rajendranagar, Hyderabad, Telangana, India to evaluate different handheld decision support tools for precision nitrogen management in rainfed maize (Zea mays L.). The study utilized a randomized block design and was replicated three times. The eight treatments included applying nitrogen through the State-recommended dose of 200 kg ha-1 in three splits (RDN), using a leaf color chart (LCC) based on N at thresholds 3 and 4, using a soil plant analysis development (SPAD) chlorophyll meter based on N at thresholds 35 and 40, and using a Green Seeker based on N at NDVI 0.6 and 0.8 in comparison with RDN and absolute control. Based on Green Seeker NDVI at threshold 0.8, the results showed that applying nitrogen resulted in considerably greater yields for maize grain (8408 kg ha-1), stover (9923 kg ha-1), and harvest index (45.8%). with higher yield and growth parameter viz., test weight (36.3 g ), No. of grain rows  row-1 (36.7), cob length (18.9 cm), plant height (223.7 cm), leaf area (6385.75 cm2) and dry matter accumulation (18193 kg ha-1) as compared to RDN. Similarly, Green Seeker based N at NDVI 0.8 also registered higher net returns (Rs. 118961 ha-1) and B: C ratio (4.05)

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Not AvailableThis study was conducted to evaluate few elite rice genotypes in wet-direct seeded system vis-à-vis conventional transplanting in clayey vertisol of Telangana during two consecutive seasons (rabi and kharif) of 2015-16. The experiment was laid out in split-plot design with two methods of crop establishment in main plots viz. conventional transplanting (CT) and direct seeded rice (DSR) in puddled condition with nine rice varieties of different growth duration in sub-plots and replicated thrice. Growth and yield attributing characters were not differed in both the establishment techniques. Grain yields during the rabi season was higher by about 1.5 % under DSR, whereas, during kharif it was about 1 % higher in transplanted rice. Total duration of cultivars was decreased in DSR to the tune of 14 days during two seasons. There was no significant difference in mean grain yield across rice cultivars in two consecutive growing seasons between direct seeding and conventional transplanting. During rabi season DRR Dhan 44, Rasi, DRRH-2, HRI-174, RNR 15048, RP Bio-226 performed well; whereas Rasi, DRR Dhan 44, DRRH-2 and Varadhan found suitable in kharif.Not Availabl

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Effect of Varying Levels and Source of Slow-release Urea Fertilizers on Yield, Post Harvest Soil Nutrient Status and Economics of Wet Direct Seeded Rice (Oryza sativa L.)

A field experiment was conducted at the research farm of ICAR-Indian Institute of Rice Research (IIRR), Hyderabad, Rajendranagar in kharif, 2022 to study the effect of varying levels and source of slow-release urea fertilizers on yield, post harvest soil nutrient status and economics of wet direct seeded rice. The experiment was laid out in a randomized block design with ten treatments consisting of nitrogen management practices and replicated thrice. The results revealed that 100% RDN (Recommended Dose of Nitrogen) (120 kg/ha) applied through silicon coated urea resulted in the highest grain yield (6249 kg/ha) and straw yield (7114 kg/ha). Post harvest soil nutrient status revealed that 125% recommended dose nitrogen (150 kg/ha) applied through silicon coated urea resulted in the highest soil available nitrogen. Similarly, the highest soil available nitrogen gain was recorded in the plots that received 125% silicon coated urea. Silicon coated urea applied @ 120 kg/ha ulimately fetched higher gross return of ₹. 1,42,964/ha, net returns ₹. 1,03,793 and benefit-cost ratio of 2.65. It can be concluded that RDN applied through silicon coated urea @ 120 kg/ha found to be a suitable alternative to neem coated urea in increasing the grain yield, soil fertility and profitability